Hackers took over robovacs to chase pets and yell slurs
Someone gained access to Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni robotic vacuums across several US cities earlier this year and used them to chase pets and yell racist slurs at their owners, reported ABC News in Australia this week.
The outlet spoke with multiple Deebot X2 owners who say their Deebot X2s had been hacked in May, including Minnesota lawyer Daniel Swenson, who said he was watching TV with his family when a noise “like a broken-up radio signal or something” started coming from the robot’s speaker. He said after he reset his password and rebooted the robot, it began again, only this time the sound was clearly a voice — he guessed a teenager’s — yelling slurs.
ABC News lists other, similar accounts from owners in El Paso and Los Angeles, the latter of which involved someone using a Deebot to antagonize a dog, yelling at and chasing it.
Ecovacs told the outlet in a statement that it had “identified a credential stuffing event” and blocked the IP address it originated from. The company said it “found no evidence” that usernames and passwords were collected by the attacker.
Researchers demonstrated a flaw last year that let them bypass the Deebot X2’s PIN entry to gain access to the vacuum. Ecovacs says in its statement that it has resolved that, and that it also plans to “further enhance security” with an update in November. It’s not clear whether that would correct a Bluetooth vulnerability that ABC News exploited for a report earlier this month.
Cloud-connected smart home devices have led to stories like this for years. Sometimes it’s the result of hacks, others simply compromised credentials. Sometimes, it’s bad software showing you another owner’s camera feed, as a little treat. Issues like these can feel inevitable when so many smart home devices require a persistent internet connection to function, especially for those companies that don’t offer easy ways to report security vulnerabilities.
Someone gained access to Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni robotic vacuums across several US cities earlier this year and used them to chase pets and yell racist slurs at their owners, reported ABC News in Australia this week. The outlet spoke with multiple Deebot X2 owners who say their Deebot X2s…
Recent Posts
- How to watch Spain vs Iraq: Free Streams & TV Channels for World Cup 2026 warm-up match
- TSMC struggles to keep up with AI demand: ‘We can only support so much’
- We’re giving away a Prime Day grab bag loaded with over $800 of free tech
- Here’s what you should and shouldn’t plug into a TV USB port
- Amazon’s new Proteus warehouse robot is fully autonomous
Archives
- June 2026
- May 2026
- April 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023